Dear editor,
Regarding Chrys Holley’s March 3, 2016 letter appearing in your online version of The Santa Rosa Gazette: Holley asserts that Valerie Jarrett is “a Muslim.”
However, fact checkers Snopes.com, RumorCheck.org and TruthorFiction.com conclude: “rumor,” “falsehood” and “fiction,” respectfully.
Dilemma: Who do you trust — Holley or the fact checkers?
I am not aware of any credibility issues(s) with the fact checkers. Not so for Holley, however. In her March 1, 2015 Viewpoint column in The Pensacola News Journal, “President Obama and Israel’s importance,” Holley asserted that there is a sentence on page 261 of Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope,” that contains the clause, “I will stand with the Muslims.”
However, the clause does not appear on page 261 of Obama’s book, nor anywhere in the book. It’s the phantom clause.
So, back to the dilemma: It’s a no-brainer. The fact checkers win. How can we believe someone who quotes phantom clauses?
If Holley has information to substantiate her claim that Jarrett is a Muslim, she should produce it. I will relay it to the fact checkers to determine its applicability and credibility.
Otherwise, Holley’s attempts to brand Jarrett as a Muslim are nothing but rumor-mongering.
PRESLEY HARPER
Pensacola
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: LETTER: Valerie Jarrett is not Muslim